Avalanche rattles skiers at French Alps resort of Tignes

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UPDATED: An avalanche struck the French Alps ski resort of Tignes on Tuesday morning slamming into a piste. There were reports several people were swept away, but authorities have since confirmed there were no victims.

Twenty-five "more or less shocked" people sought help from rescue workers, Nicolas Martrenchard told a news conference.

"Four skiers were buffeted by the impact" of the rush of snow and had to abandon their equipment on the slope, added Martrenchard, deputy prefect of nearby Albertville.

An initial report that several skiers were engulfed by the avalanche sent alarm bells ringing through the sprawling resort just three weeks after an avalanche claimed four lives nearby.

"According to witnesses, there are many people under the avalanche," a regional spokesman for the French Gendarmerie told the local Dauphiné newspaper earlier before the ski station later confirmed that there were no victims.

The avalanche warning level for Tignes on Tuesday was at level four out of five, meaning there was a "strong" (fort) likelihood of avalanches because the snow is considered unstable on several mountain slopes (not the pistes).

In theory the warning levels refer to off-piste areas and slopes that are closed due to an avalanche risk.

At warning level four avalanches could be triggered by just a small number of skiers.

At level five all pistes are closed.

"All the lifts have been closed all day for us so we can't go anywhere," Caroine Dear, a British skier at Tignes told The Local.

"That meant an accumulation of a metre over three days, which represents a thick layer of unstable snow," she said, adding however that it was "extremely rare" for an avalanche to reach an active ski slope.

Coleou said the avalanche risk would remain high at least until Wednesday.

In recent years avalanches have caused the deaths of many skiers in the French Alps, but they mostly occurred in off-piste areas, where the risk is much higher.

Most avalanches are the result of a combination of weather and geological factors. In general, an avalanche results from fresh heavy snowfall that fails to stick to snow already on the ground.

Ski patrols ('Securité des Pistes') typically set off deliberate avalanches with explosives to ensure skiers are safe when they hit the pistes. However reports suggest avalanche risk area above the slopes of Tignes could not be cleared because of high winds in recent days.